The Elusive Persona of Angela Lansbury: From ‘Gaslight' to ‘Mary Poppins Returns'

(Welcome to Role Call , where we examine two performances from an actor - their first defining role and their most recent/last - to get a sense of who they are.)
You're gonna be thinking of Murder, She Wrote while reading this. That's okay. It's only natural. The grandmotherly Columbo dominated Dame Angela Lansbury ‘s persona so strongly that a certain generation of viewers can't imagine her as anything but a cardigan-wearing bicycle enthusiast whom death follows like a puppy. After more than a decade, the series ended when Lansbury hit the traditional retirement age, but she's never quit...Read more ...